Rose and the Other

I wrote this story because I was a HUGE Doctor/Rose fan and was so so so devastated by the events in Doomsday. I kind of loved the resolution that these characters got through D2 but was sad that almost every fanfic I read had D2 being horrible, a jerk, violent etc or Rose being miserable. So I decided to have a go at telling my version. It’s not brilliant, that i know, but it’s just my opinion on what happened after the TARDIS took the Doctor and Donna away.

I don’t own the characters, the awesome BBC, Russel T Davies etc do at the moment; I simply wrote a little homage. Hope you enjoy!

It had been both the best and worst day of her life. That day on Bad Wolf Bay, the cold wind whipping about her, the sea lapping the shore and sand beneath her feet, she found herself standing on the edge of the rest of her life. In one moment it was pure bliss and heart-breaking madness. Drawing all her courage she once again asked the question she knew would change her life. He, predictably, would not, could not answer. She looked to the other and asked, not really expecting a reply. As he leaned toward her and intimately whispered in her ear the words she had dreamed him saying for so long, she forgot that he was the other and she pulled him into an embrace that broke and restored her heart. Taking the chance while she was distracted, he returned to the TARDIS and left, forever, without so much as a goodbye. Breaking the kiss she ran toward where the TARDIS had stood but could only watch on helplessly as it disappeared from her life forever. Staring agonisingly at the now empty space, she sensed the other approach and as they had always done, he slipped his hand into hers and it felt both comforting and terrible. They looked at each other, truly seeing for the first time, and the fear came. It was a day of conflict but she had never guessed it would be so personal.

Her father eventually arrived and after a brief, paraphrased version of the story was told to him by Jackie, they got into the car and headed toward home. They had still not spoken, this beautiful, courageous young girl and the skinny, wonderful, gorgeous man who shared the face of the man she loved. There did not appear to be anything to say and yet so much needed saying. As they travelled they would gaze upon each other from time to time, not speaking, but simply taking in the fact they were together once more, processing the events that had brought them together, all the while holding hands.

When they reached home, Pete lead Jackie into the house just as silently and allowed his daughter and her companion to enter in their own time. When they did finally move, a comfortable silence had been reached, and still no word was spoken. As Rose brought him inside, Jackie appeared and showed him to the place he would now call home. He stood in this room of four walls and three dimensions and he wondered how he would live not ever seeing or travelling in the TARDIS again. How would he go on knowing that each step he took from now on would be taking him toward his now very human death? As he stared at the bed and the walls and curtains, he heard her voice through the wall. Walking toward it he stood and waited just a moment before placing his hands against it and resting his ear there also, unconsciously mimicking his actions of that day two years before where he thought he had lost her forever. He could not make out the words but he did not need to, the sound of her voice was enough. Joy and relief suddenly coursed through him. Rose! He could finally have his Rose! This brilliant girl, no woman, who had exploded into his life and crept into his heart. His single, solitary, human heart. Removing one hand from the wall he brought it to rest against his chest. Feeling the beating beneath it he took a deep breath. She was worth it. Returning his hand to the wall he simply stood and listened. Never before had he been so still, so content to simply be. Before, he had to keep moving, changing, running from the past that haunted his every waking moment. His planet, his people, the war, the companions who had come and gone stood in one great long line that looked at him and accused. They were all gone while he lived. How is it that he lived while they were all gone? What had given him the right? Who had given him permission? These questions, these voices had forced him to run and only she had managed to make him stand. Stepping away from the wall, he turned and walked from the room.

She walked to her room and threw her jacket in the corner, her thoughts flying through her mind so fast she didn’t have a chance to process any of it. Jackie came to the door and walked toward her. Wrapping her in a hug, she allowed Rose to cry it out. In many ways this day had been more difficult than that one two years before. On that day she stood face to face with the man she loved and confessed that it was so and just as he was about to reply, that last tiny gap that had given them this chance closed and took him from her. Her heart had shattered with his last words still hanging in the air but they had given her hope also, strength to fight back against this universe that has separated them. On that day a new dream had been born. This day however burned and hurt far greater. To have found and lost him again. To have once again been denied the words she so needed to hear. To have been given a second chance with a man she felt she did not know. It stung, the fear, of wondering if he truly ever cared. Did he give her this ‘copy’ because he didn’t know what else to do with him, because he thought he would at least have a chance of a normal life here, or did she have the honour of being loved by two versions of the same man? Pulling away from her mother, Rose poured all of this out and Jackie could only listen. No parenting book or life experience could prepare you for situations such as this. The Doctor didn’t come with a handbook. He stormed into your life, turned your world upside down and ruined ordinary life forever. Finally Rose stopped speaking and simply sat on the edge of her bed, feeling less in pain than before and stared at the wall across from her. Sensing a pull toward the wall she raised her hands and placed them against the cool wood and her ear joined them. She remembered that day, remembered standing just like this and wondered if this time he could truly feel her on the other side? Jackie excused herself from her daughter’s room and Rose was finally alone. She stood for she didn’t know how long; moments, minutes, hours, leaning against this wall as though it were the thing that tied her to this planet. Hearing a noise in the hall she moved away and turned.

He stepped into the room and gazed at her, still wearing that silly blue suit and that face she loved. They stepped toward one another, first one step then two until finally they were within a hands-span of one another. They didn’t know which one of them moved first but suddenly they were in each others arms, embracing not as lovers but as friends who had found one another again after a long absence. Their joy at being reunited grew until finally they began to laugh with such pure happiness that they forgot what had brought them to this point. Swinging her around as he once had he remembered all the times he had held her just like this and how much it had meant. When they finally parted the words came and they began to talk. They talked through the night and into the next day. They went to lunch after having missed both dinner and breakfast but talked that whole while. They strolled around the grounds of the house and talked some more until there was no more to say except those things they had avoided saying. It was he who spoke first, of his gratitude at having met her, at the way she had changed his life, of how he had come to care for her more deeply than he had ever cared before. He told her of his terror of feeling the way he did and the confusion over why now, why this girl after so many until he came to realise it did not matter. He told her of all the moments he had cared and of all the moments he wished he could say more and he spoke to her of the moment those feelings turned to love.

She listened to it all and took it all in. Staring at him she came to the realisation that she had finally grown up. She was no longer the teenage girl running away to have adventures with a strange man in a magical box. She was a woman who had lived a great dream only to have had it taken from her and after having fought so to have it back, found herself at the beginning of the circle. She took in the face of the man beside her and her heart swelled. She loved the Doctor, this was the Other, could she learn to love him also? His eyes were wide with fear as he watched her process what he had told. Not speaking she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his. This was not a kiss of passion nor of love but of simply acknowledgement and for the moment it was enough.

It was not an easy road they walked. They had both changed during their time apart and his change had a physical element also. He had to get used to the mundane, of being confined to one room, one house, one planet. He had to learn so much about what it was to be human. The part of him that grew from Donna recognised what he learned but the part of him that was still time-lord screamed to be free. Slowly, slowly he saw the change in himself and he saw the effect it had on Rose. The fear she held on to began to lessen. Fear that he didn’t truly love her, that what he thought he felt was simply an echo of what HE had felt, fear that he was temporary and that he would somehow be stolen from her too, fear that this mundane life would make him resent her or that she would resent him. It wasn’t easy, no. At first there were a great many moments they did resent each other, she more so than he. Resented him for not being the doctor, resented him for showing her a universe she could no longer be a part of, resented him for being part human then resented him for being part time-lord. They were friends, yes, and the bond they shared couldn’t be broken by any event but this was real life now and real feelings came with it. They both worked for Torchwood now, and being who he was he soon came to be in charge. The excitement of his work, of this responsibility and of working side by side with Rose was what finally convinced him he could do this after all. He could get that mortgage she had so terrifyingly teased him with on that impossible planet their second year together. And it was an adventure he wanted to have. He saw the change and she did too.

No, it was not an easy road they walked, not at all, but after several months it was a road they walked together, hand in hand. No longer was this the insane, passion driven forbidden love that had once driven them but a mature deeper love that had grown from this life and both of them found they much preferred this new version. They were secure in knowing that this wasn’t going to fall apart, that the doctor hadn’t abandoned them together not realising they could end up hating one another. Rose found some comfort in knowing that because the other loved her, HE loved her also, that she had been right and wasn’t a silly schoolgirl with a silly schoolgirl crush. Soon even those thoughts faded until all she though of was him, her human doctor and he was no longer the other. Occasionally she felt some pity for the man who had left, walked away from a life that was bringing her such joy, and wondered what had become of him? Was he alone or had a found a new companion? Was he the same man with the same face or had he changed once again? Did he think of her with regret as she once thought of him? She tried not to think this way to often as in truth she was so happy with what she had she did not want to spoil it with what she did not. Over the years, the man she called doctor became simply a happy memory.

Life brought them pain just as it brought them happiness and marriage was hard work that neither had really prepared for. Children and grandchildren filled their life and they told the story of how they came to be together, not knowing if any of them believed them but it did not matter for they knew and it was all that was required. Yes life had been good and it was all because of a man in a blue box who had taken her hand and said just one word; “Run”. And she did, hand and hand with him down through the years.